Hark! Is that the sound of foodies stampeding to Sacramento that you hear?
If we didn’t already know how delicious Sacramento nosh is, the MICHELIN 2019 Guide to California makes it perfectly clear.
A newly awarded MICHELIN Star – along with a number of other distinguishing regional accolades – ushers Sacramento into a new era of destination dining.
Sacramento Restaurant Awarded MICHELIN Star
Last week, Selland Family-owned restaurant The Kitchen received the distinct honor of being awarded a MICHELIN star. The first restaurant in our city to earn this honor, The Kitchen is a long-cherished jewel in the crown of Sacramento restaurants.
Open since 1991, The Kitchen offers one seating per night of a five-course dinner, asking that customers budget up to four hours for their meal. Each dinner includes an interactive theater with the chef, casual unguided tours of the kitchen, and second helpings upon request.
As the MICHELIN Guide California 2019 describes:
“The Kitchen provides an interactive dining experience in Sacramento that doubles as dinner and a show. Whether you’re slurping oysters in the kitchen’s cooler or chatting with your neighbors over hors d’oeuvres, this elaborate menu is a spectacle that is sure to impress.”
A five-star fine-dining restaurant that has received the AAA Five Diamond Award for five years running, The Kitchen also made the 2019 USA Today 30 Best Restaurants in America list and has been booked three months out ever since.
Can’t wait that long to get into a MICHELIN rated Sacramento restaurant? You don’t have to.
Check out these other area restaurants that made the grade in the MICHELIN Guide California 2019.
Sacramento Restaurants Awarded MICHELIN Plate
Praised for being 'very good,' a restaurant earning a MICHELIN Plate has been deemed by an anonymous inspector to have noteworthy food and is recommended by MICHELIN.
Many Sacramento restaurants were awarded MICHELIN Plates, including:
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Sacramento Restaurants Awarded MICHELIN Bib Gourmand
An award granted to restaurants that are delicious while affordable, the Bib Gourmand award is given only to establishments that offer two courses and a glass of wine – or dessert – at a $40 and under price point.
Sacramento recipients of the MICHELIN Bib Gourmand award for affordable restaurants include:
What Does it Take to Earn a MICHELIN Star?
While they remain somewhat secretive about their evaluation process and the criteria used for awarding stars, certain factors are evident as key is securing MICHELIN star rating, including:
- use of quality products in cooking
- chef mastery of flavor and technique
- ability to infuse cuisine with the chef's 'personality'
- consistency in quality of overall dining experience from one visit to the next
While the MICHELIN accolades are new, the Sacramento foodie scene is not. Long established and quite delicious, a food movement that incorporates fresh ingredients into seasonal dishes was born in the area.
Sacramento Restaurants Pioneer Farm-to-Fork Movement
Along with other well-known area restaurants that opened in the 1990s, like The Waterboy and Ella (also owned by the Selland family), The Kitchen has long been an innovative leader in the capital city Farm-to-Fork movement.
Not just our city slogan, 'America's Farm-to-Fork Capital' is also a way of life in Sacramento.
Unique in its agricultural geography, the Sacramento region enjoys an ideal climate for growing year-round produce that lends itself deliciously to the seasonal eating movement that has taken hold throughout area restaurants.
Planning their seasonal menus around locally sourced, freshly harvested ingredients, many area restaurants are in close contact with local organic farms to regularly sample and procure regionally grown food at its peak of freshness.
More and more, the Sacramento area is being seen as a foodie destination. The addition of a Michelin Star rated restaurant speaks volumes about our city’s culinary prowess.
Congratulations to The Kitchen – as well as the many other area restaurants that received acknowledgment – for their success in the MICHELIN Guide California 2019 as well as thanks for helping the Sacramento restaurant scene garner the kudos it deserves.
Photo courtesy of The Kitchen.